Rahi receives Editors Syndicate, renews call for national dialogue
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi, met with the Editors Syndicate, headed by Joseph Al-Kosseifi, at Bkerki to discuss the country's deteriorating situation.
Al-Kosseifi urged the launch of a national reconciliation conference to support the government's efforts and build a resilient state amid regional and international transformations.
Patriarch Rahi reaffirmed the need for such a conference, warning that foreign allegiances remain a key obstacle to national unity. He added that, failing internal consensus, international efforts may be necessary.
Commenting on regional developments, Al-Rahi expressed concern over the state of Christians in Syria, saying recent violence has left communities anxious.
In Lebanon, the Maronite Patriarch emphasized there is no fear for Christians and renewed his call to unify arms under the state, as per the Taif Accord, stressing that the solution must be diplomatic. He concluded by encouraging Christian youth to join state institutions and called on the state to provide real opportunities for all Lebanese.
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The militant group helped push Israel out of Lebanon and built its arsenal over the ensuing decades, becoming a powerful regional force and the centerpiece of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the " Axis of Resistance." The allies also include Iraqi Shiite militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels, as well as Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. At one point, Hezbollah was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group's former leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah once boasted of having 100,000 fighters. Seeking to aid its ally Hamas in the aftermath of the Palestinian militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and Israel's brutal offensive in Gaza, Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border. That drew Israeli airstrikes and shelling, and the exchanges escalated into full-scale war last September. Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, killing Nasrallah and other top leaders and destroying much of its arsenal, before a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire halted that conflict last November. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes. For their part, the Iraqi militias occasionally struck bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, while Yemen's Houthis fired at vessels in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and began targeting Israel. - Condolences to Iran, condemnations of Israel - Hezbollah and its new leader Sheikh Naim Qassem have condemned Israel's attacks and offered condolences for the senior Iranian officers who were killed. But Qassem did not suggest Hezbollah would take part in any retaliation against Israel. 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Nahar Net
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Nahar Net
a day ago
- Nahar Net
Report: Officials act to spare Lebanon war as ceasefire committee urges arms timetable
by Naharnet Newsdesk 14 June 2025, 12:33 The warnings received by Lebanon with the start of the Israel-Iran conflict were not only passed on to Hezbollah but also to the Palestinian factions allied with it, especially Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, informed sources said. 'Their leaderships were unequivocally told that any military action from the Lebanese south, whether through rockets or any move of military nature, would be faced by a very firm and unprecedented Lebanese stance that includes taking totally unexpected political and security decisions,' the sources told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper in remarks published Saturday. The sources revealed that these messages were relayed through several channels, most notably Army chief General Rodolphe Haykal, who 'communicated with Hezbollah after the Israeli strike on Iran and told it of the need to keep Lebanon neutral and not be dragged into a new confrontation, 'because this war is not our war.'' Haykal also called on Hezbollah to 'abide by the official stance that stresses that the decisions of war and peace are in the hands of the state.' Nidaa al-Watan added that the five-party ceasefire committee has 'advised Lebanon to lay out a timetable for the handover of weapons to avoid the worse, telling it that the international community will not overlook this matter.' 'Through taking practical steps requested from it, Lebanon can fend off the specter of war, because Israel is insisting to put an end to every threat targeting it, while one of the international community's conditions for helping Lebanon is extending state's authority and collecting all illegal weapons,' the daily quoted the ceasefire committee as saying. Lebanese officials meanwhile told the newspaper that Lebanon has carried out contacts with foreign powers in order to avoid war, specifically with the U.S. and France, and that 'an agreement was reached on Lebanon's neutrality.' Moreover, political authorities gave the Lebanese Army a green light, especially in south Lebanon, and a state of maximum alert was declared as Hezbollah 'responded positively' to the request for staying out of the conflict, Lebanese officials told the daily. 'These messages came under direct supervision from senior state officials in parallel with international and regional coordination to spare the Lebanese front involvement in the open inferno,' the sources added.
